Blizzard had the wires crossed this week when the latest "Overwatch 2" patch notes indicated that an intentional feature added nearly four years ago is now considered a bug.

"Fixed a bug that allowed Ash to gain Ultimate with B.O.B. active," the official patch notes for Overwatch 2's upcoming Season 4 update (opens in new tab) read.

While this change is a single bullet point among dozens of other minor fixes included in the patch, Overwatch Redditors have been quick to point out that this "bug" actually makes Ash intentionally build Ultimate Charge while B.O.B is active, a 2019 They quickly realized that this contradicted the Overwatch patch and cited the exact opposite behavior as a bug:

"Fixed a bug where Ash was not gaining Ultimate Charge while B.O.B. was present," the 2019 patch (open in new tab) reads.

So was this a bug or a balancing adjustment?' 2023 Blizzard seems to be a bit confused about the origin of this feature, or else they want it removed from Overwatch in its current state.

Reaction to the discovery has been mixed, both positive and critical, with some fans feeling that their faith in Blizzard's balancing team has been shaken by the small mix-up.

"How could they be so unaware of the state of their game?" and "What is going on with the 'Overwatch' balance team that they don't even know what heroes do and have done so for years?" currently leading the forum Read the "Overwatch" Reddit (opens in new tab) post by runawaylemon.

An overreaction, if you ask me and user PurpsMaSquirt: "We're talking about a deeply nuanced [change] related to one hero's ultrasonic attack nearly four years ago. And in that same timeframe, the balance team's philosophy regarding ult has changed. I think this is a super minute thing, not a real big issue."

While it is natural for skeptics to see this mix-up as proof of incompetence, I think the reality is more trivial. Maintaining one legitimate record of changes to a project that has been touched by hundreds of hands and updated multiple times over a seven-year period sounds like a logistical nightmare. Normal staff turnover (or in Blizzard's case, abnormally high turnover spurred by a toxic workplace culture (open in new tab)) tends to create forgotten gaps in history and can occasionally cause inconsistencies Blizzard has yet to officially acknowledge this non-bug fix Blizzard has not yet officially acknowledged or fixed this non-bug fix.

I would guess that this has happened fairly regularly in online games over the years, but players are simply unaware or the change is not reported in the patch notes. Still, it's a funny mistake. Unless you are an Ashe player...